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V JE'on 



THE NIAGARA 
CAMPAIGN of 1759 



BY 

GEORGE DOUGLAS EMERSON 

BUFFALO ASSOCIATION OF THE 
SOCIETY OF COLONIAL fTARS 



1906 



THE 

Niagara Campaign 

OF 1759 



GEORGE DOUGLAS EMERSON 

w 

BUFFALO ASSOCIATION OF THE SOCIETY OF 
COLONIAL WARS 



1906 






yi. 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759 



FIRST PAPER 

Read before the Buffalo Association, Society of Colonial Wars, 
April 27, 1905. 



It was my privilege, one year ago last June, to accept, on 
behalf of the Niagara Frontier Landmarks Association, a 
tablet marking the spot where Gen. Scott stationed a battery 
at the opening of the Battle of Queenston, October 13, 1812. 
In accepting the tablet I made this remark : 

"From our youth upwards we have been told that the 
blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church, and pathetic 
as the thought may be, it would seem likewise true that all 
human progress and development have come largely through 
bloodshed and sorrow and suffering." 

A perusal of the history of the Western Continent for a 
period of 300 years after Columbus first landed on its shores 
would lead almost to the conclusion that to no epoch in the 
world's history, and to no clime or country, could such a 
remark be more aptly applied than to the northern part of 
this same Western Continent — our home and our native land 
— now happily in the enjoyment of profound peace and with 
a civilization and a development vmparalleled in all the annals 
of time. 

With the incoming of the colonists, both to Virginia and 
the more rugged New England shores, came the conflict of 
arms for the possession of the vast and unknown and appar- 



2 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

ently boundless regions which stretched far beyond the Hmit 
of vision and exploration, to the north and the south and the 
west. 

At first it was the colonist against the Indian, and the 
records of those early years, in recounting the resistance of 
the original occupants of the soil to the advent of the white 
man, teem with tales of bloodshed and fiendishness that even 
at this late day can scarcely be read without a shudder. The 
midnight raid, the butchered family, the burned homestead 
and barns, tortured prisoners, crops destroyed and live stock 
stolen ; all these in a thousand shapes and ways have left 
their imprint upon the pages of history, but they also 
remind us of a race of hardy pioneers to whom to do and 
to dare and to die were only chapters in their everyday 
life. But no power on earth has ever been able to withstand, 
and we trust that, under Divine Providence, no power ever 
will be able to withstand, that most gigantic agency for 
human progress, "Anglo-Saxon aggressiveness." And so, 
gradually, the red man was pushed back, striving as best he 
could, in his blind way, to resist the inevitable, the forests 
were leveled, the fields cultivated, and the area of the white 
man's occupancy more and more extended. But in the 
course of time there came to the North, up the St. Lawrence 
River — to occupy the snowy fields of Canada — the sons and 
daughters of France, the old, inveterate and time-honored 
foe of England. Between these two countries there then, as 
for generations previous, existed hearty and long-standing 
animosities. These national hatreds and animosities appar- 
ently were transplanted to the new world with the ever- 
increasing tide of emigration, and it was not a difficult task 
for the colonies and the colonists to become involved in the 
entanglements which made the history of Europe along this 
period almost a continuous story of battlefields and carnage. 
And so from the beginning of these diverse settlements in 
the new world, in addition to the redman's enmity, there was 
ever athwart the horizon the grim specter of what William 
H. Seward would have called "an irrepressible conflict" — 
two opposing forces — with pride, ambition and aggressive- 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759- 3 

ness entering into the composition of each — drawing con- 
stantly nearer the danger Hne and which must, inevitably, 
sooner or later, engage in battle for the supremacy. 

In 1748 occurred that diplomatic fiction, the treaty of Aix 
la-Chapelle, to which England and France were parties, 
more remarkable for the issues that were left unsettled than 
for any real good that was accomplished ; and succeeding 
this there was a momentary pause in the strife at arms be- 
tween the two countries. The fire, however, was only covered 
over — not extinguished, — and ere many years had elapsed 
there were again strifes and contentions, not only in Europe, 
but likewise along the boundary lines of the colonial posses- 
sions of these two nations. These strifes and contentions 
finally culminated in what is known in America as the 
"French and Indian War," and in Europe as the "Seven 
Years' War," lasting from 1756 until 1763. 

That the colonists could hardly say that the lines had 
fallen to them in pleasant places is evidenced from this being 
the fourth struggle between the French and English colonies, 
the preceding ones having been "King William's War" in 
1689; "Queen Anne's War," which dragged along from 
1702 to 1713, and "King George's War," in 1744 and 1745. 
And it was only twelve years after the conclusion of the 
French and Indian War to the outbreak of the War for Inde- 
pendence. Sandwiched in between these formal hostilities 
were bickerings and boundary-line disputes, Indian depreda- 
tions and similar causes for alarm and uneasiness, to say 
nothing of the ceaseless everyday drudgery incident to open- 
ing up a new country. 

The long and bloody Seven Years' War was not a contest 
for redress of grievances, like the American Revolution of a 
later date ; nor to prevent territorial absorption, like the 
present Japanese and Russian embroglio — there were no 
great principles at stake, as in the Civil War in our own land ; 
there were encroachments by the French and, perhaps, tres- 
passes on the part of each — in fact, disputes as to boundary 
lines was the ostensible cause of the war ; but stripped of all 
veneering, it was simply a bloody battle to the finish \\n\h 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

only one issue, viz. : Should England or France dominate 
the Western continent ? And I think that none of us has any 
occasion to regret the outcome of the contest, and that to the 
Union Jack of Old England instead of the Lilies of France 
came the triumph. 

As was usual, each side sought the aid of the savage red 
man in carrying on the contest ; and, as was also usual, there 
was a diversity of service on the part of the Indian — some 
tribes espousing the English cause, others taking sides with 
the French ; but these allegiances varied as the struggle pro- 
ceeded and the fortunes of war favored the one side or the 
other. Our foxy red brother always exhibited a strong incli- 
nation in every contest to be with the winner at the finish, 
and manifested considerable dexterity in getting there. 
Candor compels the admission that, as a rule, our English 
brethren in those days were not as successful in handling 
the Indian problem as were either the French or the Dutch. 
Perhaps, we had better say, were not as shrewd or diplomatic 
in their intercourse with the red man, and, consequently, did 
not share his friendship as strongly as did the other two peo- 
ples. It was pretty much, however, a difiference of methods 
and not of results. When lands were wanted, with the Eng- 
lishman it was generally a case of brutal frankness — stand 
and deliver, as we may say. With the Frenchman and the 
Dutchman there were more impressive preliminaries. There 
would be a pow-wow, much palavering — they smoked the 
pipe with the Indian and then proceeded to unload upon the 
unsuspecting red man a choice assortment of gold bricks, 
after which, I dare say, they went to their homes, thanking 
God, like the publican of old, that they were not as other 
men and that they had secured their lands by treaties. There 
were, of course, honorable exceptions to all this — treaties 
that were honestly made, and I verily believe honestly 
adhered to ; but I have failed to discover in all my researches 
that in the long run the red man profited any more by the 
one process than he did by the other. I can only call to 
mind the somewhat grim, sarcastic expression so prevalent 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 5 

in these days — the operation was very successful, but the 
patient died. 

War was finally declared by England against France, 
May 17, 1756, and France returned the compliment on the 
9th day of June, following. Hostilities, nevertheless, had been 
in progress for nearly two years, and up to this period the 
wager of battle had been quite in favor of France, and there 
seemed a strong probability that the magnificent Parisian 
dream of a great French colonial empire in the new world, 
dominating and overshadowing all other interests, was about 
to be realized. Quebec on the St. Lawrence, well fortified 
and garrisoned, was the central point from which radiated 
French influence and activities. Montreal, 180 miles farther 
up the St. Lawrence River, had also its fortifications and 
French garrison. In 1745, during King George's War, the 
last colonial struggle between the French and the English, 
prior to the French and Indian War, Louisburg, a strongly 
fortified point on the Isle of Cape Breton, was captured bv 
the English, but under the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, already 
referred to, it had been restored to France. The French still 
held this important point. They had expended upon its for- 
tifications upwards of five million dollars and it was fre- 
quently spoken of as the Gibraltar of North America. Back- 
in 1732, they had penetrated Northern New York and had 
seized and occupied Crown Point, a strong, strategic point 
on Lake Champlain, and erected fortifications, thus forming 
a barrier against any invasion of Canada from New York 
State. They had pushed their columns still further south and 
on Lake George, at what they called Tierondoga, had erected 
Fort Carillon, the fortification more familiarly known to us 
as Fort Ticonderoga. Frontenac, on the northern shore of 
Lake Ontario, now the flourishing city of Kingston, Canada, 
and Detroit, on its present site, were both well fortified and 
garrisoned posts occupied by the French. They held Fort 
Niagara, at the mouth of the Niagara River, with its garri- 
son of 600 or 700 men, thereby controlling the portage 
around the great Falls of Niagara from Lewiston to 
Schlosser, with its important carrying trade and commerce. 



6 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

Fort Du Quesne, Presque Isle, Le Boeuf, and Venango, in 
Western Pennsylvania, were also garrisoned by French 
troops. Thence across Ohio, Indiana and down the Valley 
of the Mississippi, with its immense fur trade, stretching 
away to New Orleans, as the extreme southern outpost, were 
their trading posts and mihtary stations, altogether about 
sixty in number, between Quebec in the north and New 
Orleans in the south. 

The English colonists occupied the Atlantic seaboard, east 
of the Alleghany Mountains, with a border line perhaps a 
thousand miles in length, reaching as far as the Penobscot in 
the northeast, with Boston, New York, Philadelphia and 
Baltimore as the principal cities in the more northerly prov- 
inces. Albany and Schenectady were beginning to be promi- 
nent in the annals of the day, and through the Mohawk Val- 
ley were sparse settlements, mostly of Holland Dutch, but 
among them a Palatine village. Oswego, occupying the 
same site as the present city of that name, was the most 
northwesterly fortified point held by the English in the pro- 
vince of New York. 

Fort Du Quesne, of which mention has been made, de- 
serves more than a passing notice. It was originally planned 
by the Ohio Company, a corporation chartered by the Eng- 
lish Government, with a grant of 600,000 acres of land and 
the right of traffic with the Indians — a land company, I 
should judge, much after the style of the Holland Land Com- 
pany of our local history. In April, 1754, the company sent 
some thirty men to construct a fort at the junction of the 
Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. Before finishing the 
work the men were attacked by the French and driven off. 
The French claimed that this was an encroachment upon 
territory which was theirs by right of exploration and dis- 
covery. Colonel George Washington with a detachment of 
Virginia troops was about forty miles distant and endeavored 
to reach the spot. He was obliged to retire before the supe- 
rior forces of the French, but a fight took place May 28th in 
which the French commander and some of his men were 
killed. Thus, almost two vears before the actual declaration 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1739. 7 

of war and with George Washington as the EngHsh com- 
mander, the first blood was shed in the long and eventful 
French and Indian War. Washington erected Fort Neces- 
sity at the Great Meadows near the national road from 
Cumberland to Washington in the southeastern part of 
Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He received reinforcements 
and again advanced towards Fort Du Quesne, but again was 
compelled to fall back before the greatly superior force of 
the enemy. He retired to Fort Necessity, was attacked bv 
the French and Indians and compelled to surrender, which 
took place July 4, 1754. Colonel Washington, although but 
twenty-three years of age at the time, as the leader of Colo- 
nial troops, participated in another movement against Fort 
Du Quesne during the following year, his men being a part 
of the force commanded by Gen. Edward Braddock, which 
on the Qth day of July, 1755, met with a most disastrous 
defeat, about ten miles from the fort, a story with which you 
are all familiar. The old saying, "three times and out," was 
well exemplified in Washington's case. In 1758, for the 
third time, he led the Colonial troops, or as they were gen- 
erally termed provincials, in a movement against Fort Du 
Quesne, Gen. Forbes being the English commander. Suc- 
cess attended their efforts this time and after a long and 
tedious campaign the fort, on the 24th day of November of 
that year, 1758, fell into the hands of the English. Its name 
was changed to Fort Pitt, in honor of the great Prime Min- 
ister of England, evoluting, in later and more peaceful times, 
to Pittsburg, the most thriving municipality in Western 
Pennsylvania. A peculiar circumstance was that Wash- 
ington surrendered Fort Necessity to the French on the 4th 
day of July, a day destined a few years thereafter to become 
a milestone on the highway of the ages. Of the other places 
named, Presque Isle is now Erie ; Le Boeuf , Waterford ; 
and Venango, Franklin, Penn. 

There have been persons who imagined that Washington 
had had but little military training or experience when he 
assumed command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, 
Mass., in July, 1775, and that his appointment was primarily 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

a political one, but such an impression must arise from pure 
ignorance. No officer in the colonies was better fitted for the 
command, both by training and natural gifts, or had passed 
through a more varied experience than had the father of his 
country, and not to recognize his supreme qualifications for 
leadership is to underestimate the capacity and strength of 
character of the great chieftain. Over and above and per- 
meating all his acts was his exalted patriotism — always sub- 
ordinating personal desires for the welfare of his country, 
an ideal character for all the ages. It would also be interest- 
ing to notice some of the other prominent officers of the Con- 
tinental Army, who, like Washington, served an honorable 
apprenticeship in the French and Indian War and other colo- 
nial struggles, but time will not permit. Such a list would 
include Israel Putnam, John Stark, Philip Schuyler, Charles 
Lee, Horatio Gates, Daniel Morgan, John Armstrong, 
William Mercer, Artemus Ward, Richard Montgomery, and 
William Prescott, the commander at Bunker Hill, who par- 
ticipated in the capture of Louisburg in 1745. Colonel 
Gridley, an engineer officer, who laid out the American 
works the day before the battle of Bunker Hill, participated 
in both the 1745 and 1758 sieges and capture of Louisburg 
and in the capture of Quebec in 1759. When mention is 
made of General Gage we most naturally think of the English 
officer who was military governor of Massachusetts at the 
time of the stamp act riots, the Boston tea party, and other 
incidents which marked the outbreak of the American Revo- 
lution, but this same General Gage was the commander of 
the British forces with headquarters at Fort Niagara when 
it became an English military station after its surrender by 
the French in 1759. 

One strong character, however, looms up prominently in 
the annals of Central New York and the Niagara Frontier, 
thoroughly identified with the stirring events of the trouble- 
some period we are studying and who seems a part of our 
own history more than almost any other one man who 
assisted in shaping and molding events in that formative 
stage of colonial State building — Sir William lohnson, for 




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THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN 01' i759- » 

many years Superintendent of Indian Affairs, the com- 
mander of the English forces in the decisive victory near 
Lake George, September 8, 1755, and, who after the death 
of Gen. Prideaux, carried forward the siege of Fort Niagara 
to a successful issue, July 25, 1759. 

Sir William Johnson was a native of Ireland, but came 
to the JMohawk Valley in 1740 as the agent of his uncle. 
Admiral Sir Peter Warren of the English navy, the owner of 
some fifteen thousand acres of land in Montgomery County. 
He took up his home near his new tract and at once began 
that intercourse with the Indians which was destined to 
prove so beneficial to the English during the French and 
Indian War and other crises. He made himself familiar with 
their language, watched their habits and peculiarities, and 
by mildness, prudence and sagacity gained their favor and 
confidence, which was never withdrawn to the last day of 
his life. He was the one remarkable exception to the tradi- 
tional lack of diplomacy and tact on the part of English 
officers of his time, in dealing with the always troublesome 
Indian problem. His home at Johnson Hall, in Johnstown, 
N. Y., for many years prior to his death was the scene cf 
noted gatherings of Indian chieftains and conferences upon 
many topics, and so truthful was he in his dealings with them 
and yet so courageous and manly that no summons to a con- 
ference was ignored. In the course of his long and success- 
ful career he acquired large holdings of real estate, probably 
exceeding that of any other man of his time. 

Early in 1755 he received from Gen. Braddock a commis- 
sion as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and this commis- 
sion was renewed December 29th of the same year by Gen. 
Shirley, who succeeded to the post of commander-in-chief 
upon the death of Gen. Braddock. In April, 1755, upon the 
recommendation of the governors of five English colo- 
nies, he was appointed by Gen. Shirley a major general to 
command the troops raised in those colonies for an expedi- 
tion against the French stronghold at Crown Point, and a 
similar commission was issued to him by Gov. Delancey of 
the Province of New York. He held this rank when in com- 



10 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

mand of the troops which encountered the French at Lake 
George on the 8th day of September following, winning with 
them a decisive victory. 

In speaking of him the London Gentlemmi's Magazine for 
September, 1755, prints the following extract from a letter 
written in America : 

"Maj. Gen. Johnson (an Irish gentleman) is universally 
esteemed in our parts for the part he sustains. Besides his 
skill and experience as an officer he is particularly happy in 
making himself beloved by all sorts of people and can con- 
form to all companies and conversations. He is very much 
of a fine gentleman in genteel company. But as the inhabi- 
tants next to him are mostly Dutch, he sits down with them 
and smokes his tobacco, drinks flips and talks of improve- 
ments, bear and beaver skins. Being surrounded with 
Indians, he speaks several of their languages and has always 
some of them with him. His house is a safe and hos- 
pitable retreat for them from the enemy. He takes care 
of their wives and children when they go out in parties and 
even wears their dress. In short, by his honest dealings with 
them in trade, and his courage, which has often been success- 
fully tried with them, and his courteous behavior he has so 
endeared himself to them that they chose him one of their 
chief sachems or princes and esteem him as their common 
father." 

In March, 1756, he received from the British Crown a 
commission as colonel, agent and sole superintendent of the 
Six Nations and other Northern Indians, to which latter 
position was attached a salary of 600 pounds per annum. 
He received also from the British Parliament a grant of 
5,000 pounds and from the King the title of baronet. 

His busy and active life, which cannot be fully outlined 
here, came to a sudden end June 24, 1774, at his home in 
Johnstown, after having for nearly thirty-five years exer- 
cised a one-man power, never before or since surpassed on 
this continent — perhaps not equalled. 

There were no general hostilities in 1754 excepting mur- 
derous depredations by Indians upon the New England fron- 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1739. 11 

tier. Emissaries from the French also were busy among the 
tribes west of the Alleghanies in an effort to incite them to a 
war of extermination against the Enghsh. 

A very important feature of that year's history was the 
convention held at Albany for the purpose of securing united 
action among the colonies. It was participated in by New 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. A plan of confederation 
proposed by Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania was 
adopted on the 4th day of July, the same day upon which 
Washington surrendered Fort Necessity, and twenty-two 
years prior to the greater 4th day of July, 1776. The plan 
was not ratified and was literally kicked from both sides — it 
being considered too aristocratic in America and too demo- 
cratic in England. 

In February, 1755, Edward Braddock, a distinguished 
British officer, arrived at Chesapeake Bay, holding a com- 
mission as commander-in-chief of all the regular British and 
provincial troops in America, and at his request the gover- 
nors of Massachusetts, Virginia, New York, Maryland, 
Pennsylvania, and North Carolina met with him at Alexan- 
dria in April following, to complete arrangements for a vig- 
orous campaign. Three separate expeditions were deter- 
mined upon — one against Fort Du Quesne, to be led by 
Braddock himself; a second against Frontenac and Fort 
Niagara, to be commanded by General Shirley, a really meri- 
torious officer, although shortly afterwards he was retired by 
his government under a cloud ; and a third against Crown 
Point, under the leadersTiip of General William Johnson. 
These extensive arrangements sanctioned by the home gov- 
ernment, although war had not been formally declared, 
aroused much enthusiasm among the colonists, and the legis- 
latures of the several colonies, excepting Pennsylvania and 
Georgia, voted men, money, and supplies for the war. Of 
the three expeditions the one against Fort Du Quesne under 
Braddock met with disaster and defeat July 9th. General 
Shirley proceeded to Oswego to engage in the movement 
against Frontenac and Fort Niagara, but time and efforts 



12 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

were frittered away and the expedition was finally aban 
doned. The third, under General William Johnson, defeated 
the French and their Indian allies near Lake George, Sep- 
tember 8th. During this campaign the English troops built 
near Lake George Fort Edward and Fort William Henry 
which they continued to occupy while the French retired to 
their strong positions at Fort Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 
Not deeming his force sufficiently strong to continue the 
forward movement, General .Johnson abandoned further 
offensive operations and returned to Albany. 

With the opening of the year 1756 even the inefficient, 
halting and indecisive British ministry awoke to a realization 
that not only was English prestige in America threatened, 
but there was danger also of a loss of colonial possessions 
and that all thought of peace must be abandoned. War was 
declared May 17th. Gen. Shirley, who became commander- 
in-chief upon the death of Gen. Braddock, was recalled and 
Lord Loudon substituted with Gen. Abercrombie as his chief 
lieutenant. Again magnificent campaigns in theory and dire 
disaster and confusion of plans in results. 

Projected — Ten thousand men to attack Crown Point ; 
6,000 men to proceed against Fort Niagara ; 3,000 against 
Fort Du Quesne, and 2,000 to attack French settlements on 
the Chaudiere River. 

Accomplished — Nothing. 

Disaster — Loss of Oswego, August 14, 1756. The Mar- 
quis de Montcalm, better known for his defense of Quebec 
against Gen. Wolfe in 1759, was now in command of all the 
French forces. He collected some 5,000 Frenchmen, Cana- 
dians and Indians at Frontenac, crossed Lake Ontario, and 
at once assailed the English in their forts at Oswego. A 
brave resistance was made, but without avail, and on August 
14, 1756, the garrison was obliged to surrender, together 
with a large amount of military stores, 135 pieces of artillery 
and several vessels in the harbor. The French proceeded to 
demolish the forts and returned to Canada. 

It was a direful disaster and all other expeditions were 
abandoned. Forts Edward and William Henry at Lake 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN Oh' 1751;. 13 

George were strengthened and 1,500 volunteers and drafted 
militia placed in stockades for the defense of the Virginia 
and Pennsylvania frontiers, under the command, as usual, of 
Col. George Washington. 

The Six Nations perceiving also, as they thought, the 
waning power of England, became restless and uneasy and 
only the strong arm and marvelous power of Sir William 
Johnson, for the time being, stood between the frontier set- 
tlements and a cruel, bloodthirsty carnival of butchery and 
arson. 

The year 1757, according to the program of Loudon, the 
British commander-in-chief, was to be distinguished by one 
grand campaign, an expedition against Louisburg and noth- 
ing in addition to this save only the defense of the frontiers. 
But again, the story can be told, with a slight change of 
nationalities, by the familiar couplet : 

"The King of France, with twice ten thousand men, 
Marched up hill and then marched down again." 

Loudon sailed from New York June 20th, with 6,000 pro- 
vincials, furnished by the ever-willing colonies. In fact, if 
the colonies, brave, courageous and accustomed to hardship, 
had been left to themselves to carry on the war with their 
own troops, under their own officers, in their own way, they 
would have made short work of the whole business. But 
handicapped by an inefficient, vacillating home ministry, 
thousands of miles away and with limited facilities for trans- 
portation, receiving scant support in troops and money, mis- 
led, betrayed and disgraced by incompetent commanders sent 
from the mother country — officers with no experience in the 
peculiar methods of warfare needed in the woodlands of 
America, and who time and again invited disaster by refus- 
ing to listen to the trained frontiersmen, little wonder is it 
that so many humiliating chapters in those early years have 
been recorded by the impartial historian. 

At Halifax, June 30th, Loudon was joined by Admiral 
Holborne with sixteen ships and 5,000 English regulars, a 
magnificent equipment ample for the undertaking. Wonder- 



14 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

ful stories of the strength of the French force inside of their 
forts at Louisburg, unquestionably the most formidable 
works on the Western continent, and of their ships in the 
harbor came to the ears of Loudon and the expedition was 
forthwith abandoned. The inefficient and dilatory com- 
mander reached New York late in August about the same 
time as did the news of another disaster. 

The close of July found Montcalm, the French com- 
mander who, the preceding year, had captured and despoiled 
Oswego, at the foot of Lake George with 9,000 men — 2,000 
of whom were Indians. Montcalm, fighting under the lilies 
of France, was a true soldier and a capable officer. He pro- 
ceeded up the lake, encamping about two miles from Fort 
William Henry. To resist this formidable host, Lieut. -Col. 
Munro, commanding the fort, had just 449 men within the 
fort and only 1,700 in a fortified camp on a rocky eminence 
near the site of Fort George. 

August 4th a demand for surrender was refused and 
Montcalm, having placed his artillery in position, opened 
fire. It was returned from the fort with spirit and earnest- 
ness. The unequal contest continued five days. 

Gen. Webb, commander in the absence of Lord Loudon, 
with four thousand men, was at Fort Edward, within sound 
of the artillery duel, and messenger after messenger reached 
him from the fort begging for aid, but he was as one in a 
.stupor or paralyzed. 

Sir William Johnson, at Fort Johnson, as his home was 
then called, heard of the French advance, and summoning a 
force of militia and Indians, hastened to the relief, as he 
supposed, of Gen. Webb. On his arrival at Fort Edward he 
learned the true situation and it was only after repeated 
solicitations that he was allowed to start for beleaguered 
Fort William Henry. In this perilous duty he was joined by 
a battalion of stalwart rangers, under command of a pugna- 
cious Connecticut farmer, one Israel Putnam, and a detach- 
ment of provincials under Col. Rogers, but the column had 
scarcely got under way when the permission was cancelled 
by the cowardly, craven-hearted Webb. 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 17 59- 15 

Deserted by his commander and with no prospect of 
succor*, Col. Munro surrendered to the French August 9th. 
He was granted honorable terms, among others the privilege 
to march with his surviving troops to Fort Edward. The 
next morning they assembled for this purpose, but were 
attacked by the savage Indians who had accompanied the 
French. Despite the efforts of Montcalm and some of his 
subordinate officers, who hastened to the rescue of the unfor- 
tunate provincials, many of them were slain before the furi- 
ous attack of the savages could- be stayed. 

By order of Montcalm, the walls of the fort were leveled 
to the ground and everything combustible destroyed. The 
French then retired to their fortifications at Ticonderoga. 

November 12th of* the same year witnessed the destruc- 
tion of the Palatine village on the German flats in the 
Mohawk valley, the massacre of many of its residents and 
capture of about 150 in addition to those slain. The village 
consisted of about sixty dwellings and five block houses. 
The murderous raid occurred at 3 o'clock in the morning and 
was conducted by some 300 Canadians and Indians. 

In the meantime, while these events were transpiring in 
America, a great political revolution had taken place in Eng- 
land. Popular discontent with the imbecile ministry had 
become so widespread and outspoken that the Newcastle 
administration was overthrown, and there came to the head 
of the cabinet one who was destined to wield a mighty influ- 
ence in enlarging the sphere of his country's influence and to 
whom empires were playthings and oceans were highways — 
William Pitt — Earl of Chatham — whose commanding genius 
was soon to permeate every sphere of official action and to 
be felt in every quarter of the globe. 

Pitt was always a friend of the colonies. He saw in them 
the germ of a great empire and his advent to power was 
received with rejoicing. His call for men and supplies to for- 
ward the war vigorously was like the blast of Roderick 
Dhu's horn in the highlands when every shrub and bush 
became an armed man. Troops were raised with alacrity, 
and even the faraway Carolinas sent men to take part in the 



16 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1739. 

final campaigns. Twelve thousand regulars were allotted to 
the service in America and Pitt promised tents and* other 
supplies and reimbursement for money expenditures, all of 
which promises were scrupulously kept. The incompetent 
Loudon and the cowardly Webb were recalled and Aber- 
crombie appointed commander with Lord Amherst as his 
chief lieutenant. So general was the response to the calls for 
troops that by May, 1758, Abercrombie found himself at the 
head of perhaps 50,000 men ready for field service. 

Three great movements were attempted, one against 
Ticonderoga, led by Abercrombie, which, owing principally 
to a lack of judgment and care on the part of the com- 
mander, met with the terrible defeat July 9th, of which we 
were told at our last meeting ; a second one against Fort Du 
Quesne, which after many delays and obstacles met with suc- 
cess November 24th in the capture of that point ; the other 
expedition was once more directed against Louisburg, long 
the objective point of attack by British officers. The last 
named movement was conducted by Lord Amherst, who 
sailed from Halifax May 28th with forty ships and twelve 
thousand troops. A siege of nearly two months ensued with 
a loss to the assailants of over 400, and of 1,500 to the 
besieged. On July 26th the town and forts were surrendered 
by the French with 5,000 prisoners and large quantities of 
military stores. This capture, so long looked forward to, 
and so often deferred, caused intense rejoicing. Another 
brilliant movement this year was the capture of Frontenac 
by Col. John Bradstreet, a brave and venturesome officer, 
who with 3,000 men crossed Lake Ontario from Oswego, 
which had been refortified by the English, and on the 27th 
of August captured fort, garrison and shipping. Owing to 
an epidemic which broke out in his camp he returned to 
New York with the balance of his troops and at Rome 
assisted in the construction of Fort Stanwix. 

We have now reached the great year of victory, 1759, 
which was the original subject selected for our study, before 
it was thought wise to relate some of the preceding events. 
Hope now animated every breast in the colonies. Much 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 17 59- 17 

had been accomplished towards restoring the prestige and 
supremacy of the English flag. The effect upon the Indians 
was remarkable. Many tribes, the Delawares and Swe- 
gatchies especially, openly forsook their French alliances and 
hastened to make peace with the now victorious English. 
The Six Nations and other northern tribes, excepting per- 
haps the Senecas, fairly trod upon one another in their 
efforts to assure Sir William Johnson of their friendship. 
Nevertheless the French were in possession of the fortified 
points — Fort Niagara, Crown Point and Ticonderoga, all in 
the province of New York, and maintained their alliances 
with a number of the tribes. There could be no peace while 
these conditions continued, and the edict went forth from the 
lion-hearted Pitt that not only should these strongholds be 
subdued, but that Quebec likewise must be added to the 
list of conquered points and the overthrow of the French 
power in America completed for all time. Abercrombie was 
recalled and Amherst, the conqueror of Louisburg, made 
supreme commander. The notes of preparation for the final 
struggle were heard on every hand. Gen. Prideaux, a 
skillful and accomplished officer, was assigned to command 
the movement against Fort Niagara, with Sir William 
Johnson second in command, and with this contingent and 
its work we shall have principally to deal hereafter. It was 
well directed and systematically carried forward to a success- 
ful issue. In addition to the regular siege operations, one 
pitched battle was fought which determined the final outcome 
of the campaign. More troops were employed for this move- 
ment than had the Americans at either Lundy's Lane or 
Bunker Hill, and yet how much we have all heard of both of 
those contests and how little of the siege of Fort Niagara. 
Somehow, the average history is strangely deficient in a com- 
plete record of this campaign, while profusely discoursing 
on many details of far less importance. 

The capture of Fort Niagara meant much to the colonies 
and much to the new world. It was not an isolated campaign, 
but one of a gigantic movement, planned by a master in- 
tellect, for the conquest of a continent, and was of transcen- 



18 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

dent importance in determining the issue of that conquest. 
The commanding position and far-reaching influence of the 
fort was long recognized by both parties and its posses- 
sion "a consummation devoutly to be wished." The troops 
ordered for this service assembled at Oswego and proceeded 
up the lake in batteaux, landing at a small bay, about four 
miles east of the fort. Regular siege operations were at 
once begun and pushed forward with energy and military 
directness. During the siege Gen. Prideaux was most unfor- 
tunately killed by the explosion of a shell in his own camp, 
but the command falling upon Sir William Johnson, that 
officer carried forward the undertaking even more vigor- 
ously than before the death of his chief. The fort surren- 
dered July 25, 1759. The full story of the campaign, as told 
in the reports of the French commander and Sir William 
Johnson, the full importance attached to the fort by both 
French and English authorities and the effect of its cap- 
ture upon the final outcome of the entire struggle must be 
reserved for another time. 

The French and Indian War, of which the Niagara cam- 
paign of 1759 formed an important feature, was marked by 
many interesting episodes which cannot possibly be recalled 
within the limits of a paper like this. One remarkable coin- 
cidence' comes to my mind. In the last and successful expe- 
dition against Louisburg, under Lord Amherst, in 17.S8, two 
young men, one only twenty-two years old, and the other 
thirty-two, held subordinate positions and fought side by side 
under the same flag, sharing in the dangers of the siege and 
participating in the glory that came to the conquerors. It 
fell to the lot of each of these young men, subsequently, to 
lead an army up the rocky heights of Quebec to wrest it 
from an enemy, and go to death in the hour of expected 
victory — James Wolfe in 1759 and Richard Montgomery in 

1775- 

With all its bloody details, and humiliating and disgrace- 
ful chapters, this can be said of the French and Indian war, 
and it is enough to give it an honorable place on the immor- 
tal pages of a never-fading history — it developed the martial 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 19 

spirit of the colonies, gave them confidence in themselves 
and was the West Point from which came Washington and 
many other gallant men, who, a few years later, in the great 
war for Independence, led the Continental armies to glorious 
victorv. 



SECOND PAPER 

Read at a Meeting of the Buffalo Association, Society of Colonial Wars, 
November 16, 1905 



He who passes through the Niagara Gorge for the first 
time and beholds the turbulent waters of Niagara River in 
the vicinity of the Whirlpool, is little prepared for the beau- 
tiful landscape which opens to view a few miles farther 
north. The rush of the waters abates by degrees until, reach- 
ing Lake Ontario, they gently glide into the larger body in a 
leisurely manner, forming a scene which, when viewed from 
the mountains south, is almost entrancing. 

On the east side of the river, in the angle formed by the 
river and the lake, stands an old, historic and time-honored 
fortification, and. although it does not throw a lurid glare 
across the pages of history like Gibraltar, Sebastopol, or 
Port Arthur, to the resident of the Niagara Frontier it has a 
past that is at once interesting and fascinating — Old Fort 
Niagara. To trace its history from the beginning we must 
go back over 200 years, and prior to the close of the year 
181 5 it was the scene of many conflicts and historic episodes. 

Originally built by the French, there have waved over its 
ramparts, first, the lilies of France; then from July, 1759, 
the Union Jack of England ; then, after the American Revo- 
lution and the hold-over period, the Stars and Stripes ; again 
for a short time, the Union Jack of Old England, and. 



20 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

lastly, once more, our own Star Spangled Banner, which has 
flown to the breeze in profound peace over this historic spot 
during nearly a century. 

Those of you who were present at the very pleasant meet- 
ing held by our Society in April last will undoubtedly recall 
the salient points of the paper read that evening. The gen- 
eral theme was the same as that of this evening — "The Niag- 
ara Campaign of 1759" — but the pages were principally 
devoted to a review of the prominent events of the French 
and Indian war prior to and leading up to the great year of 
victory — 1759. We recall how, in the first few years of the 
conflict, victory seemed assured to the French cause, but that 
later, under the administration of a more capable and vigor- 
ous home government in England, the French were gradually 
pushed back, lost ground was regained, and some of the 
humiliating and disgraceful chapters of the earlier period 
supplemented by important victories. 

Since that evening a very valuable and interesting histori- 
cal work has come under my observation, and among manv 
other items found was a full description of the great French 
stronghold, Louisburg, on the Isle of Cape Breton in the 
Bay of Fundy. Louisburg played such an important part in 
our Colonial history that I feel justified in giving it just a 
few minutes more attention this evening. In our first paper 
we spoke of its capture in 1758 by the force under command 
of Lord Amherst, and the author of the work in question. 
Prof. James Grahame. furnishes the following description 
of Louisburg at that time : 

"The town of Louisburg was built by the French on the 
island of Cape Breton, soon after the Peace of Utrecht. It 
was designed for the security of the French shipping and 
fisheries, and was fortified with a rampart of stone thirty-six 
feet in height, and a ditch eighty feet in width. There were 
six bastions and three batteries, containing embrasures for 
148 pieces of cannon, of which sixty-five were mounted, and 
sixteen mortars. On an island at the entrance of the harbor 
was planted a battery of thirty cannons carrying shot of the 
weight of twenty-eight pounds ; and at the bottom of the 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 31 

harbor, directly opposite to the entrance, was the grand or 
royal battery, containing twenty-eight cannons that carried 
balls of forty-two pounds, and two of smaller dimensions. 
The entrance of the town, on the land side, was at the west 
gate, across a drawbridge, near to which was a circular bat- 
tery, mounting sixteen guns that carried shot of twenty-four 
pounds. Twenty-five years had been spent in building these 
works, which, though still uncompleted, had cost France at 
least thirty millions of livres. The place was deemed so 
strong as to be impregnable except by blockade, and was 
styled by some The Dunkirk, and by others The Gibraltar 
of America. In peace, it afforded a safe and convenient re- 
treat for the ships of France homeward bound from the East 
and West Indies ; and in war, it formed a source of distress 
and annoyance to the northern English colonies, by harbor- 
ing the numerous privateers which infested their coasts for 
the destruction of their fishery and the interruption of their 
general commerce. It manifestly tended, besides, to facili- 
tate the reacquisition of Nova Scotia by France, — an event 
which would cause an instant and formidable increase in the 
numerical strength of the enemies of the British crown and 
people. The reduction of Louisburg was, for these reasons, 
an object of ardent desire and of the highest importance to 
New England." 

Against these apparently impregnable fortifications, Lord 
Amherst conducted in 1758 an expedition of forty ships and 
12,000 troops, and after a siege of two months effected 
its reduction, — this almost 150 years ago, sailing from a 
country that was comparatively a wilderness, at an era 
when steam navigation was unknown and the home gov- 
ernment separated by a vast ocean, 3,000 miles in width, 
across which troops and munitions of war could only be 
transported by the crude methods then in vogue. Consid- 
ering the opportunities and facilities then afforded, many of 
the operations of the French and Indian war challenge admi- 
ration for their boldness and magnitude. No flotilla of simi- 
lar extent traversed American waters again until the out- 
break of the Civil War, more than 100 vears later. 



22 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

From the earliest stages of the conflict Fort Niagara was 
a prominent object of consideration in the plans and calcula- 
tions of those who were organizing the British campaigns, 
and it may not be uninteresting to recall some of the testi- 
monies of those earlier days as a sort of expression of the 
importance with which Fort Niagara was regarded. 

]\Ir. Wynne, an English writer, who is the author of a 
work published in London in 1770, entitled "A General His- 
tory of the British Empire in America: A Historical Re- 
view of all the Countries of North America ceded by the 
Peace of Paris," uses the following glowing language in 
regard to Fort Niagara : 

"Niagara is, without exception, the most important post 
in America, and secures a greater number of communica- 
tions, through a more extensive country, than, perhaps, any 
other pass in the world ; for it is situated at the very en- 
trance of a strait by which Lake Ontario is joined to Lake 
Erie, which is connected with the other three great lakes by 
the course of the vast River St. Lawrence, which runs 
through them all, and carries their superfluous waters to the 
ocean." — "From the time when the French were first ac- 
quainted with this place, they were fully sensible of its im- 
portance both with respect to trade and dominion. They 
made several attempts to establish themselves here ; but the 
Indians constantly opposed it, and obliged them to relinquish 
a fort which fhey had built, and guarded this spot for a long 
time with a very severe and prudent jealousy. 

"But whilst we neglected to cultivate the love of the 
Indians, the French omitted no endeavors to gain these 
savages to their interest ; and prevailed at last, under the 
name of a trading house, to erect a strong fort at the 
mouth of the strait. This advantage was obtained for his 
country by a French officer of an enterprising genius, who 
had been a prisoner among the Iroquois (one of the tribes 
of the Six Nations) for a long time, and, according to 
their custom, was naturalized, and became very popular 
among them. . . . The trading-house which he obtained 
leave to build, extended and strengthened by various addi- 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF i759- '^'^ 

tions, at last became a regular fortress, which had ever 
since awed the Six Nations and checked our colonies. 

"As to these immense lakes, which are all, in a man- 
ner, commanded by this fort, the reader need only cast 
his eyes on the map of North America, and be convinced 
of their importance. They afford by far the most exten- 
sive inland navigation in the whole universe. Whoever is 
master of them must, sooner or later, command the whole 
continent. They are all surrounded by a fine, fruitful coun- 
try, in a temperate, pleasant climate. The day may pos- 
sibly come, when this noble country, ivhich seems calcu- 
lated for tiniversal empire, ivill sufficiently display its ozvii 
importance." 

We of this generation have had the glorious privilege 
of witnessing the fulfillment of this prophecy. 

Mr. Pownall, who seems to have given considerable at- 
tention to Indian affairs, in an address read at the Congress 
held at Albany, July ii, 1754, spoke as follows concerning 
the scheme or design of building the fort at Niagara : 

"Such a Fort as this might easily interrupt the com- 
merce betwixt these people and the English and Dutch in 
New York. Their custom is to carry to New York the 
skins of Elks, Beavers and several sorts of Beasts which 
they hunt and seek after for two or three hundred leagues 
from their own home. Now, they being obliged to pass 
and repass near to this mouth of the River Niagara, we 
might easily stop them by fair means in time of peace, or 
by open force in time of war, and thus oblige them to turn 
their commerce upon Canada." 

Early in 1755, General Edward Braddock, a distin- 
guished British officer, arrived in America under a com- 
mission appointing him commander-in-chief of all the Eng- 
lish troops in America. From a lengthy document entitled, 
"Secret instructions for Our Trusty and Well-beloved 
Edward Braddock, Esq., Major General of Our Forces, 
and whom we have appointed General and Commander, 
of all and singular Troops and Forces, that are now in 



24 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 17 59- 

North America, and that shall be sent, or raised there, to 
vindicate our just rights and possessions in those parts. 
Given at Our Court at St. James's the 25th day of Novem- 
ber, 1754. in the 28th year of Our Reign," signed by the 
King, we extract the following: 

"3d. The next service, which is of the greatest import- 
ance, and therefore demands the utmost care and atten- 
tion, is the dislodging the French from the Forts they now 
have at the Falls and passes of the Niagara ; and the erect- 
ing such a fort there, as shall, for the future, make His 
Majesty's subjects masters of the Lake Ontario; by that 
means cutting off the communication between the French 
Forces on the Mississippi. It is Our pleasure, that if, for 
this purpose, you should think it necessary to have ships 
upon the said Lake Ontario, you shall concert with the 
Commander-in-Chief of Our Ships and the Governors of 
New England and New York, the manner and means of 
Building and manning such vessels as shall be most proper 
for that service." 

In a letter written by Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey, 
of the colony of New York, to Sir Thomas Robinson, Sec- 
retary of the Lords of Trade, dated New York, 15th 
December, 1754, he says: 

"Niagara is a remarkable and important pass between 
the Lakes Ontario and Erie, which the French forces use 
in their way from Montreal to the Ohio ; so that if we 
should become masters of it, there would be an end of 
their encroachments in that quarter, as they would then 
be obliged to take so long a circuit and attended with such 
difficulties as would render the marching a body of men 
to the Ohio in a manner impracticable. The advantages 
arising from these forts would be very considerable, as 
they would encourage those Indians who are well affected 
to us, fix the wavery, and be a restraint and check on 
those who are inclined to the French. Add to this, if the 
fort at Oswego standing at the mouth of the river where 
it empties itself into the Lake Ontario were enlarged and 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 25 

strongly garrisoned, the French might be deprived of all 
intercourse with the Onondaga and Oneyda Indians; for 
one branch of that river comes from Onondaga and the 
other from the Oneida country, and after their confluence 
pass under the fort at Oswego. If these things be done 
I am persuaded the Six Nations will readily join us in anv 
enterprize against the French, and we should soon be an 
overmatch for them and prevent them from drawing off 
so many of our Indians as they continually do, for which 
purpose they spare no arts nor money." 

Governor Shirley of Massachusetts colony, writing to 
Secretary Robinson from Boston, New England, March 24, 
1755' says: 

"The dislodging of the French from these Forts, Sir, 
and building a defensible fort some where on the Streight 
between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario with one or two ves- 
sells of force upon each lake to command the navigation 
of them, and a few small fortify 'd places of Shelter upon 
the River Ohio, would in all appearance most efifectually 
put an end to the encroachments of the French there from 
Montreal; and as to those w^''^ may be expected from the 
Mississippi, after their support from Canada is cut off, it 
seems probable that they would scarce attempt any, or if 
they should, that a most easy conquest might be made of 
them. 

"Having observed to you, Sir, of what importance I con- 
ceive the reduction of the French Forts at the Falls of 
Niagara would be to his Majesty's Western Colonies in 
particular, I shall now proceed to state the advantages 
which I apprehend would arise to all His Colonies in gen- 
eral upon this Continent from the operations proposed to 
be carry'd on at the same time in the Eastern part of them." 
In another letter from Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey 
to Secretary Robinson, dated at New York, August 7, 1755, 
he further says : 

"The same Battoes which carry the train, provisions, 
ettc, for the Army to Oswego may carry them to Niagara, 
and being transported above the Falls, the same may carry 



26 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1739. 

them to Presqu Isle, the Fort on the south side of Lake 
Erie, so that it will be practicable to bring the expence of 
such an expedition into a moderate compass far less than 
the expence of Waggons, horses, ettc, which are necessary 
in an expedition by Land from Virginia to the Ohio ; besides 
that, proceeding from Virginia to Fort Du Quesne, if it 
be taken, it is only cutting ofif a toe, but taking Niagara 
and Presqu Isle you lopp off a limb from the French and 
greatly disable them." 

In a letter of instructions to Major-General Amherst 
from Secretary Pitt, written at Whitehall, December 29, 
1758, the Prime Minister enjoins him as follows: 

"It were much to be wished that any operations on the 
side of Lake Ontario could be pushed on as far as Niagara, 
and that you may find it practicable to set on foot some 
enterprize against the Fort there, the success of which 
would so greatly contribute to establish the uninterrupted 
dominion of that Lake, and, at the same time, effectually 
cut off the communication between Canada and the French 
settlements to the South ; and the utility and importance of 
such an enterprize against Niagara is of itself so apparent 
that I am persuaded it is unnecessary to add anything to 
enforce your giving all proper attention to the same, as 
far as the great and main objects of the campaign shall 
permit." 

We have also the testimony of our distinguished friend, 
Sir William Johnson, who, in writing to the Lords of Trade 
from Fort Johnson, May 17, 1759, uses the following lan- 
guage: 

"The Reduction of Niagara, and if well conducted I 
think we cannot fail of success, will be in the light I view 
it a point of inestimable advantage to the security and wel- 
fare of these His Majesty's Dominions, and if the Con- 
quest is rightly improved, will throw such an extensive 
Indian Trade and Interest (for they are inseparable) into 
our hands, as will in my humble opinion oversett all those 
ambitious and lucrative schemes which the French have 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1739. 27 

projected and in pursuit of which they were interrupted 
by the present war in this part of the world. 

"Whilst the French are in possession of Niagara in vain 
will our repossession of Oswego and re-establishing an 
Indian Trade there enable us to hold the Ballance from 
them either in Indian Interest or Trade. 

"The many Nations of Westward Indians in compari- 
son with whom the Six Nations are but a handful must 
pass by Niagara in order to come to Oswego, where the 
French stop them and their goods, secure them by negotia- 
tions and engross their Trade. This we felt for some years 
before the War began when very few of those Indians 
came to trade with us to Oswego and latterly the chief 
Trade there was rather carried on with the French than 
Indians, by which means our enemies procured assortments 
and supplies of Goods from us to support their Trade at 
and from Niagara." 

War was not formally declared by England against 
France until May, 1756, but nevertheless hostilities had been 
in progress for two years prior to that time, and early in 
1755' as stated. General Braddock arrived in America with 
two British regiments and with instructions from the King, 
as we have already intimated, to prosecute military opera- 
tions with vigor and persistence. Fort Niagara was selected 
as one of the points to be attacked, and to Governor Shir- 
ley of Massachusetts Colony was assigned the duty of 
organizing the expedition for this purpose. General Brad- 
dock himself led a combined force of regulars and pro- 
vincials against Fort Du Quesne, going to disaster and death 
July 9, 1755, near the Fort. Among the spoils taken from 
Braddock's troops by the French and Indians w^as his 
artillery train, and it seems the very irony of fate that 
these same cannon were transported to Fort Niagara and 
became a part of the armament of the fort, falling again 
into English hands July 25, 1759, with the surrender of 
the fort. 

The troops for Governor Shirley's movement against 
Niagara were ordered to rendezvous at Oswego, but it was 



38 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

late in August before any considerable number reached this 
point. The news of Braddock's defeat caused great depres- 
sion, desertions became numerous, various delays and vexa- 
tious hindrances intervened and the project was finally aban- 
doned. 

In 1756 Fort Niagara was named in the magnificent, high- 
sounding, theoretical schemes of Lord Loudon, who suc- 
ceeded General Shirley as commander-in-chief, but noth- 
ing substantial materialized and it was not considered in 
any of the plans for 1757 and 1758. 

In the meantime the French had not been idle, and appre- 
ciating that sooner or later attempts would be made against 
the fort, proceeded to strengthen it in many ways. Captain 
Pouchot, of one of the French regiments, an engineer of 
considerable skill and who surrendered the fort to Sir 
William Johnson in July, 1759, reached Niagara with some 
of his regiment in October, 1755, and immediately com- 
menced the work of reconstructing the fort. Houses for his 
troops were built after the Canadian manner. These con- 
sisted of round logs of oak notched into each other at the 
corners, and were speedily erected. Each had a chimney in 
the middle, some windows and a plank roof. Rushes, marsh 
grass, or straw rolled in diluted clay were driven in between 
the logs and the whole plastered. 

In March, 1756, the cannon taken from Braddock ar- 
rived at the fort and the work of strengthening the fort had 
been carried on through the whole of the preceding winter, 
some 300 men being in the garrison. In July, 1756, the 
defenses were nearly completed and Captain Pouchot left the 
fort. He returned again as commandant, with his own regi- 
ment in October, 1756, remaining there for one year, during 
which time he still further strengthened the fort, and when 
he left he reported that "Fort Niagara and its buildings were 
completed and its covered ways stockaded." 

Captain Pouchot, on April 30, 1759, again arrived at Fort 
Niagara to take command and occupied the position until 
the surrender to the English, July 25th following. He 
found, as he complains, that nothing had been done to the 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1.759. 39 

fort since he left it, — that its ramparts were giving way, the 
turfing had all crumbled ofif, and the escarpment and coun- 
ter escarpment of the fosses much filled up. He mounted 
two pieces to keep up appearances in case of a siege. By 
July Pouchot had finished repairing the ramparts and he 
gives us this description of the defense : 

"The batteries of the bastions which were in barbette had 
not yet been finished. They were built of casks and filled 
with earth. He had since his arrival constructed some pieces 
of olindage of oak, fourteen inches square and fifteen feet 
long, which extended behind the great house on the lake 
shore, the place most sheltered for a hospital. Along the 
faces of the powder magazine to cover the wall and serve as 
casements, he had built a large storehouse with the pieces 
secured at the top by a ridge. Here the guns and gunsmiths 
were placed. We may remark that this kind of work is 
excellent for field-forts in wooded countries, and they serve 
very well for barracks and magazines, a bomb could onlv 
fall upon an oblique surface and could do little harm because 
this structure is very solid." 

It is quite evident that the fort was in a fairly defensible 
condition when the siege operations were commenced. 

Pouchot says that the garrison of the fort at this time 
consisted of 149 regulars, 183 men of colonial companies, 133 
militia and twenty-one cannoniers, a total of 486 soldiers, 
and, in addition, thirty-nine employes, of whom five were 
women or children. These served in the infirmary, as did 
also two ladies, and sewed cartridge bags and made bags for 
earth. 

To these were added later Chabert Joncaire and the force 
from Fort Little Niagara and probably some other small 
detachments. 

There were also some Indians in the fort, and the officers 
may not have been included in this number. The fort was 
capable of accommodating 1,000 men. 

A corvette, called the 'Troquoise," fully manned and 
carrying ten or twelve guns, arrived at Niagara July 6th, 
and, during the early part of the siege at least, its com- 
mander placed himself under Pouchot's orders. 



30 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

During these same years important events had taken place 
in other portions of the colonies. A tremendous blow had 
been given to British prestige and power in the capture of 
Oswego by the French forces under the Marquis de Mont- 
calm in 1756. This confirmed French control over the 
western lakes and the valley of the Mississippi. Their 
strong position in northern New York gave them command 
of Lake Champlain and Lake George. Their occupation of 
Fort Du Quesne enabled them to cultivate the friendship and 
retain the attachment of the Indian tribes west of the Alle- 
ghanies. Their line of communication from Quebec to 
Louisiana was unbroken, and they were masters of the vast 
territory which lay towards the setting sun in unknown and 
unmeasured leagues and bounds. At the opening of the year 
1758 the whole American continent apparently seemed des- 
tined to pass under French dominion, but it was only the star 
at its zenith — the sun at high noon — the high-water mark. 
Henceforward there was to be decline, defeat, disaster and 
ultimately the extinguishment of all their claims, their 
powers and the overthrow of their dominion and control. 

William Pitt, with his marvelous genius for government, 
was now at the head of the British cabinet and grandly did 
the colonies respond to his appeals for troops and supplies 
with which to carry on the war with vigor and promise of 
success. The victories at Louisburg, Fort Du Quesne and 
Frontenac, with the reoccupation of Oswego which soon fol- 
lowed, turned the tide of battle against the hitherto victori- 
ous French, and henceforth there were to be only forward 
movements to a final and complete victory. 

Lord Amherst, who conducted the brilliant campaign . 
against Louisburg, succeeded the blundering Abercrombie as 
commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. Three 
movements were planned for the year 1759: One to be led 
by Amherst, having the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point for its objective; another, the capture of Quebec, to 
which duty General James Wolfe was assigned; and, simul- 
taneously with these, Fort Niagara was to be assailed, for 
which service General John Prideaux, with Sir William 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF i759- 31 

Johnson as his Chief Lieutenant, was placed in command. 
General Prideaux was accidentall}' killed by the explosion of 
a shell in his own camp July 19th during the siege, and Sir 
William Johnson succeeded to the command. General 
Prideaux was the second son of a baronet. Sir John Pri- 
deaux, and the grandson of a viscount. He was born in 
Devonshire in 17 18, entered the British military service as a 
lieutenant July 17, 1739, and was adjutant of his regiment 
at the battle of Dettingen, July 27, 1743. He became lieu- 
tenant colonel Feb. 24, 1748, and Oct. 20, 1758, was pro- 
moted to the colonelcy of the 55th foot, to succeed Lord 
Howe who was killed in the disastrous campaign under 
General Abercrombie .against Ticonderoga. One of his sons 
inherited the baronetcy, which became extinct in 1875. 
Prideaux was an officer of merit although said to have been 
unpopular in the army. 

The army destined for the siege of Fort Niagara left 
Oswego, where it had rendezvoused, soon after July i, 1759, 
proceeding up the lake in batteaux and disembarking on the 
sixth day of the same month in a small bay at the mouth of 
the Four-Mile Creek, sometimes called Prideaux's Landing, 
on the south shore of Lake Ontario, about four miles east 
of the Fort. It was composed of the 44th and 46th regi- 
ments, the 4th Battalion of Royal Americans, two battalions 
of New York troops, and a detachment of the Royal Artil- 
lery, numbering altogether about 2,200 men, many of whom 
had participated in the disastrous campaign and defeat of 
General Abercrombie at Ticonderoga in July, 1758. In 
addition to these was the Indian contingent which numbered 
600 when the departure was taken from Oswego, and subse- 
quently augmented by 300 more who joined during the siege, 
making a total force of 3,100, — not a very formidable army, 
as armies go in these days of gigantic movements and far- 
reaching concentrations, but it was a larger force than that 
which struck the blow for American liberty on Bunker's 
Hill, or that which fought under Scott and Brown at 
Lundy's Lane, or that which performed many deeds of valor 
during the war for Independence. 



32 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 17 59- 

Preparations were at once commenced by General Pri- 
deaux for regular siege operations. July 8th, under a flag 
of truce, he sent into the tort Captain Blaine with a demand 
for its surrender. The demand was very courteously but 
firmly refused by Captain Pouchot. 

July loth the first parallel was opened at a distance of, 
perhaps, 700 yards from the fort, beginning at about the 
middle of the front of the fortifications and extending to the 
left toward Lake Ontario. This was perfected and extended 
to the lake by the morning of July 14th. On the 17th a bat- 
tery had been thrown up on the opposite side of the river, 
called "Montreal Point," which proved a serious annoyance 
to the occupants of the fort. Other operations incident to a 
state of siege were also vigorously pressed. July 20th a 
third parallel was opened, about 160 yards from the fort, and 
on the 2ist the fourth parallel, about 100 yards from the fort. 
Cannonading was constant between the contending forces, 
resulting in loss of life on both sides. Considerable rain fell 
during the siege, and at times the fog or mist was so dense 
that the movements of the British forces were hidden from 
the occupants of the fort. Captain Pouchot appears to have 
been very watchful, and at all times kept a close scrutiny 
upon the movements in front of him. going about frequently 
on tours of operations with a few of his men. 

July 19th General John Prideaux, the British commander, 
was killed while passing near a cohorn which was very care- 
lessly fired at the same moment. His body was taken into 
the fort after the surrender and, on July 28th, with proper 
ceremonies, buried within its limits. Sir WilHam Johnson 
assumed command immediately and continued in active com- 
mand of the forces until after the surrender. Lord Amherst, 
the British commander-in-chief, designated General Gage 
of Boston to succeed General Prideaux, but he did not reach 
the field of operations until after the fort had capitulated. 

Early in the month, being fully aware of his precarious 
position, Captain Pouchot sent runners to the commanders at 
Presque Isle and other points where French troops were 
garrisoned, asking for assistance. To checkmate any move- 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 33 

ment of this kind, the British extended their left flank so as 
to cover the only road leading from out the fortifications by 
which a relieving force could reach the fort. On the 23d 
rumors reached the commander through some of his Indian 
scouts that a force of French and Indians were coming to 
the assistance of the besieged French in Fort Niagara. 

Mr. Crisfield Johnson in his "Centennial History of Erie 
County," gives the following picturesque account of the 
approach of the French and Indians : 

"A motley yet gallant band it was which then hastened 
along our shores on the desperate service of sustaining the 
failing fortunes of France. Gay young officers from the 
Court of the Grand Monarque, sat side by side with sun- 
burned trappers, whose feet had trodden every mountain 
and prairie from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. Vet- 
erans who had won laurels under the Marshals of France 
were comrades of those who knew no other foe than the 
Iroquois and the Delawares. One boat was filled with sol- 
diers, trained to obey with unquestioning fidelity every word 
of their leaders ; another contained only wild savages, who 
scarce acknowledged any other law than their own fierce 
will. Here flashed swords and bayonets and brave attire, 
there appeared the dark rifles and buckskin garments of the 
hardy hunters, while still further on the tomahawks and 
scalping-knives and naked bodies of Ottawa and Huron 
braves glistened in the July sun. There were some, too, 
among the younger men, who might fairly have taken their 
places in either batteau or canoe ; whose features bore unmis- 
takable evidence of the commingling of diverse races ; who 
might perchance have justly claimed kindred with marquises 
and barons then resplendent in the salons of Paris, but who 
had drawn their infant nourishment from the breasts of 
dusky mothers, as they rested from hoeing corn on the banks 
of the Ohio. 

"History has preserved but a slight record of this last 
struggle of the French for the dominion of these regions, 
but it has rescued from oblivion the names of D'Aubrey, 
the commander, and De Signery, his second; of Monsieur 



34 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 17 59- 

Marini, the leader of the Indians, and of the Captains De 
VilHe, Repentini, Martini and Basone. They were by no 
means despondent. The command contained many of the 
same men, both white and red, who had slaughtered the 
unlucky battalions of Braddock only two years before, and 
they might well hope that some similar turn of fortune 
would give them another victory over the foes of France. 

"The Seneca warriors, whose principal seats were then on 
the Genesee and beyond, were roving restlessly through Erie 
and Niagara Counties and along the shores of the river, 
uncertain how to act, more friendly to the French than the 
English, eager for blood, and yet unwilling to engage in 
conflict with their brethren of the Five Nations, under Sir 
William Johnson. 

"Hardly pausing to communicate with these doubtful 
friends, D'Aubrey led his flotilla past the pleasant groves 
whose place is now occupied by a great commercial empor- 
ium, hurried by the tall blufif now crowned by the battle- 
ments of Fort Porter, dashed down the rapids at the head 
of the Niagara, swept on in his eager course untroubled by 
the piers of any international bridge, startled the deer from 
their lairs on the banks of Grand Island, and only halted on 
reaching Navy Island, just beyond the borders of Erie 
County. After staying there a day or two to communicate 
with the Fort, he passed over to the mainland and marched 
forward to battle." 

Preparations were made at once to receive them. That part 
of the British army encamped near the road was reversed, 
facing to the south instead of towards the fort, and a breast- 
work thrown up, stretching from the bank of the river 
across the road. On the morning of the 24th the advancing 
force came in sight along the road leading from the Falls to 
the Fort. Some Indians attached to the British went to their 
people who were coming with the French and endeavored to 
persuade them to abandon the enterprise. The efifort was 
fruitless, and, returning to their own camp, they set up a 
great shouting, and firing commenced at once. The French 
at about 9 o'clock advanced to the attack, which was calmly 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 85 

awaited by the British behind their breastwork. M. D' Aubrey 
was in command of the French and Indians, and, as near as 
can be ascertained, the force consisted of 1,000 Indians and 
600 French. The British troops actually engaged consisted 
of 600 men from the 44th and 46th regiments, one hundred 
New York provincials and 600 Indians from the different 
tribes. The balance of the troops were held in the trenches 
to prevent a sortie from the fort, and this service was most 
effectually performed. The battle-ground was about one 
and one-half miles below Five Mile Meadows, at a place 
called Bloody Run, or, better perhaps, as it was called during 
French occupation. La Belle-Famille. 

The British reserved their fire at first and then delivered 
three volleys, causing much loss to the enemy. Then, seeing 
the demoralization which followed, with loud shouts they 
jumped over the breastworks and assailed the foe with tre- 
mendous energy and zeal. The French and Indians com- 
menced to retreat and pursuit was continued for five miles ; 
ultimately the entire force scattered in every direction. 
About 120 prisoners were taken, including the commanding 
officer and sixteen of his subordinates. The loss of the 
French and Indians was probably not less than 500, of whom 
150 at least were killed, while the British loss was compara- 
tively slight. 

As soon as practicable after the conclusion of the engage- 
ment and the return of his troops, General Johnson dis- 
patched Major Harvey to inform Captain Pouchot of the 
result of the attempt to reinforce his beleaguered troops, 
coupled with another demand for the surrender of the fort. 

Captain Pouchot asked for evidence of the facts related to 
him, whereupon Sir William allowed an inspection of the 
French officers he had captured to be had by an officer from 
Pouchot's command, and the whole of the disaster was re- 
vealed. No further delay was asked for and before midnight 
the terms of capitulation were agreed upon. The next morn- 
ing, July 25, 1759, Sir William Johnson with his troops 
marched into the fort, the French flag was hauled down for 
the last time and French power and dominion faded for- 



36 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 

ever from so much of the earth, at least, as was comprised in 
that region. 

About 640 prisoners were taken with the fort besides 
cannon, mortars, ammunition, and ordnance stores in great 
abundance. One hundred and nine men had been killed or 
wounded in the fort during the siege, and at the surrender 
thirty-seven were in hospital. The British loss, including 
that in the battle of July 24th, was sixty-three killed and 
185 wounded. 

When Pouchot sent for assistance to M. D'Aubrey and 
other post commanders, he instructed them to march down 
the west, or, as it is now known, the Canadian side of the 
river, but these instructions were disregarded and they 
approached the fort from the east or American side. Had his 
orders been carried out possibly the relieving force would 
not have encountered Sir William Johnson's army, and while 
the ultimate result would undoubtedly have been the same, 
the intervening history might have been vastly different in 
detail. 

At this point I could well say "thus endeth the chapter" 
and ring down the curtain upon the great scene, but the study 
of this epoch in the history of the western continent has 
become to me so fascinating that I am loth to part with it. 
It has unfolded to my mind a far clearer idea of a continu- 
ity in our colonial and national history than I hadi before 
appreciated, and a more vivid conception of the steps that 
led up from feebleness and poverty to the most splendid 
national development in all the annals of time. 

As the real history of England, that which is greatest and 
best in the wonderful life of the great empire, dates from 
the battlefield of Hastings, so it seems to me we can count 
the upbuilding of this nation from the overthrow of the 
French power in 1759. As I suggested in my former paper, 
the French and Indian War was the preparatory school, the 
West Point, from which came many of the great leaders in 
the war for Independence. We are prone to associate promi- 
nent characters with prominent events and ignore the some- 
what lesser known experiences which prepared the way for 
the so-called greater ones. 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF I759- ^7 

Horatio Gates — proud, haughty and ambitious as he was 
— goes into history as the captor of Burgoyne's army at 
Saratoga Springs. Stalwart, rugged John Stark winning 
the battle of Bennington up in the Green Mountain country 
— all honor to him. We readily recall General Gage as the 
British military governor of Massachusetts Colony when 
occurred the Stamp Act riots, the Boston tea party, and other 
exciting events at the outbreak of the war for Independence 
— we need not forget these things — but as students of Colo- 
nial history can we not also recall that Gates and Stark and 
Gage fought side by side with Washington on the bloodv 
field where Braddock met defeat and disaster, and that Gen- 
eral Gage was the commander at the British forces whose 
headquarters were at Fort Niagara after its surrender to 
the British July 25, 1759? 

Another robust character comes to my mind — Israel 
Putnam, originally a Connecticut farmer. The average 
American remembers him as a famous fighter in the eastern 
sections of the country during the Revolution. But this 
same Israel Putnam was an officer in Colonel Bradstreet's 
command, which passed along the Niagara Frontier in 1764, 
at which time the original Fort Erie was built, under Brad- 
street's direction, by Captain John Montressor, a brother 
officer of Putnam. 

Other famous characters rise before me : William Pres- 
cott, the American commander at Bunker Hill; James 
Wolfe, who led the British forces up the heights of Quebec 
to its capture in 1759, and Richard Montgomery, who 
essayed the same tremendous task at the head of Continental 
troops in 1775 ; John Bradstreet, the captor of Frontenac 
in 1758 — all these had their lessons of reckless daring and 
courage in the great expeditions against Louisburg either 
in 1745 or in 1758 and in which each served most creditably. 
And so on through many chapters. 

The capture of Fort Niagara was, we may say, a flank 
movement in the great events of 1759, and success at this 
point, with the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point 
and Quebec by other divisions of the army, practically de- 



38 THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 17 59- 

cided that henceforth the vast domain of North America was 
to be under Anglo-Saxon dominion and Anglo-Saxon civ- 
ilization. The far-reaching project of a union of the Colo- 
nies for protection and self-defense was a product of this 
war, and was first proposed by the great philosopher and 
statesman, Benjamin Franklin. Many years were needed 
for its development, but the seed was sown at the conference 
held in Albany in July, 1754. From and after the French 
and Indian war the American colonist was a more self-asser- 
tive and independent citizen of the world and was better pre- 
pared for the onward and upward steps of defending his 
birthrights from monarchial encroachments, and ultimately 
complete independence. And so, with the incoming years, 
came successive stages until was reared that mighty fabric, 
the Great Republic of the West. Within the past ten years, 
in our own lives, has come another onward step when our 
great country emerged from its exclusiveness and became a 
world power, and today, in all that makes up a great and 
influential factor for good, leads in the mighty procession of 
the nations. In the future, if I read the signs of the times 
aright, there will, as in the past, be national growth and 
national decay, turnings and overturnings. God has His 
own purposes to fulfill as in days gone, but out of all these 
upheavals and downfalls, three great nations will arise to 
dominate the world's policy — Japan in the Far East, the 
United States in the West, and Great Britain in the midway, 
and our Republic second to none. 

Considering this wonderful past, and looking forward 
into the brilliant promises of marvelous things yet to come, 
let us never forget the sacrifices and heroic endeavors of 
our fathers who laid the foundations for it all. Every foot 
of our Niagara Frontier, from Buffalo Creek to Lake 
Ontario, is replete with historic interest. It has been trod 
by as brave men, as stalwart men, as self-sacrificing, self- 
denying men and women as any foot of ground in the land, 
and especially at the period which we have considered, for 
human life was reckoned very cheaply and existence one 



THE NIAGARA CAMPAIGN OF 1759. 39 

ceaseless round of exposures, hardships and everyday 
drudgery. And, of all the shifting, changing scenes in the 
great panorama of events, few were more dramatic in their 
enactment or far-reaching in results than the campaign of 
1759- 



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